Individuality and distinction: The interplay between artist and audience in electronic dance music

Electronic dance music has been studied by many scholars, yet these scholars almost exclusively ignore the music itself. Instead, these authors focus on the social and cultural issues surrounding the electronic dance music scene. This dissertation attempts to remedy this problem in electronic dance music scholarship. In this dissertation I look at specific musical case studies to perform in depth analysis of these musical objects. The goal is to come to a better understanding of the social and cultural issues in electronic dance music through the study of the music itself.;In my first chapter, I analyze the The Orb's track "Little Fluffy Clouds," and I illustrate how the electronic dance music artists use the art of sampling to create a unique artistic object. In my second chapter I analyze Tom Stephan's CD Warm n' Up, Firin' Off. In this chapter I look examine this larger CD length form and come to an understanding about how the music is created, and how this long form functions for a real world dancing audience. In the third chapter I explore the implications of an electronic dance music soundtrack in the film Run Lola Run. In this chapter I analyze the score and interpret the film based upon its dance music soundtrack. In my fourth and final chapter I take look to the rise of the genre acid-house, and use the knowledge gained in my previous chapters to come to an understanding as to how genres are formed in electronic dance music.;Thus this dissertation expands beyond previous scholarship and links the specific study of electronic dance music to that of the social and cultural aspects of the music's scene. It is through this process of exploration that I highlight how the music itself plays an integral part in the electronic dance music scene.